Scientists
believe studying juvenile sea lions taken from the wild will
help them learn the causes of the species' decline. Click on
photo to see larger version. (Photo
courtesy Dave Kubiak.)

Sea Lion Survival
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INTRO: Scientists have for years been trying to unravel the causes of the decline in the number of Steller sea lions roaming Alaska's coast. Thus far they've been largely unsuccessful. As Doug Schneider reports in this week's Arctic Science Journeys Radio, scientists say capturing and studying juvenile sea lions may be the species' best hope for survival.

STORY: Ever since the 1960s, the number of Steller sea lions
living along the remote and rocky coast of Alaska has been in a kind
of free-fall. By some estimates the total population—believed to
have once numbered in the hundreds of thousands—has plummeted some
80 percent. In most of Alaska, the species is now considered in danger
of extinction. Scientists themselves are frustrated that after so much
research, they're still no closer to understanding the causes of
the decline, or how to help the species recover.

Like most scientists, Shannon Atkinson thinks sea lions—especially
young, juvenile sea lions—are simply not getting enough to eat
in order to survive. Atkinson is the science director for the Alaska
SeaLife Center, a marine research and animal rehabilitation facility
in Seward. She says juvenile sea lions are the single largest segment
of the overall decline.

ATKINSON: "There's an estimated 10-, 20-percent decrease in the survival
rate of juveniles. There are several factors that are probably weighing
into the decline of this species. The leading hypothesis is that it
is nutritional stress. That in itself will probably lead to some sort
of reduced foraging efficiency and that could lead to decreased survival.
But we really don't know this, and until we start looking at the animals
in question, it's going to be hard to answer these questions."

At a recent meeting of scientists in Anchorage, Alaska, Atkinson put
forth what is likely to become a controversial proposal—to capture
and hold wild juvenile Steller sea lions for study.

Photo
by Dave Brenner.

Atkinson says captive juvenile Steller sea lions are needed to learn
how this at-risk group forages as well as to develop a medical profile
of their health. Following juveniles throughout the year in the wild
is just too expensive, she says. Instead, she proposes that juvenile
sea lions be captured several times during the year and brought to the
SeaLife Center for evaluation and study.

ATKINSON: "What we decided was probably to capture small groups
of juveniles, up to four animals, at a time, and maintain them up to
four months. Because we'd be getting different animals periodically
and through different seasons, we'd start to build up a database
of what these animals look like at different times of the year."

The proposal has received a favorable response from environmental groups.
Jack Sterne, staff attorney with Trustees for Alaska, a law firm representing
Greenpeace and other environmental organizations, believes the research
may hold promise for learning more about sea lion declines.

STERN: "Our clients have always been supportive of legitimate research
projects that attempt to determine the cause of the decline of Steller
sea lions. It looks to us like they are attempting to gather useful
information on some of the life history of juvenile Steller sea lions,
which is an important age group that's experienced a pretty significant
loss in the last few years."

While supportive of the research, that support comes with a note of
caution from Paul Joslin. He's the executive director of the Alaska
Wildlife Alliance in Anchorage, and former assistant director of the
Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, where he looked after several thousand captive
animals. He's also former head of research for Wolf Haven International,
where he helped reintroduce wolves into the wild. He cautions that experiments
on wild animals in captivity won't necessarily give scientists
clues to how animals behave in the wild.

JOSLIN: "At the outset I would be somewhat cautious about how
one would interpret the results. When we take an animal from the wild
into captivity, that can be an enormous shock. It's not the same
as when the animal is born in captivity. Stress hormone levels you can
expect to be elevated in animals that are not born in captivity but
taken from the wild as juveniles. You're asking an awful lot for
a higher-level animal to behave as if it were perfectly normal."

Joslin also questions whether juvenile sea lions will be able to survive
once they're returned to the wild after months of captivity.

JOSLIN: "Are there major learning experiences that animal needed
to acquire but were left out in terms of wild experience because they
were held in captivity. The animal, for its own survival, has to fit
back into the wild and catch its food. We think of the juvenile period
as a learning curve and if I take a part of that away, are they going
to adapt as well?"

The Alaska SeaLife Center still needs a permit from the National Marine
Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources to capture and hold
endangered juvenile sea lions. It's a permit that even Atkinson
admits will be hard to get.

ATKINSON: "It's probably going to be a nightmare for them.
On the other hand I think for the future of the species and for the
research we're conducting, I think it is the way research should
go."

A decision on the permit is still months away. Meanwhile, Atkinson
says the center has already begun preparing facilities to house and
care for the sea lions, and hopes to be able to capture the first round
of juvenile Stellers as soon as next fall.

OUTRO: This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of
the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
I'm Doug Schneider.

Arctic Science Journeys is a radio service highlighting science, culture,
and the environment of the circumpolar north. Produced by the Alaska Sea
Grant College Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The shortcut
to our ASJ news home page is www.asjnews.org.